After she skyrocketed to box office star status with the phenomenal blockbuster success of the romantic comedy “Kita Kita,” Alessandra de Rossi did not decide to strike while the iron is hot as most people would expect her to do.
Instead, she became even more meticulous in her choice of roles.
“Marami akong tinanggihan. Mas marami na akong tinanggihan kesa tinanggap. Kung umoo ako sa lahat ng inoffer sa akin, sobrang yaman ko na ngayon,” the 33-year-old multi-awarded actress said in an interview with InterAksyon.
For Alessandra, the banner year she had in 2017 was the product of two decades of hard work. She started her career exactly 20 years ago as a fledgling child actress whose sole credential was being the younger sister of Assunta de Rossi.
But in 2000, at the age of 14, she stepped out of her sister’s shadow in a big way when she starred in Carlitos Siguion-Reyna’s urban drama “Azucena,” for which she won the FAMAS Best Supporting Actress trophy the following year. That led to her first lead role — in the Gil Portes’ internationally acclaimed “Mga Munting Tinig, which immediately cemented her status as a critics’ darling when she was barely out of her teens.
Since then, Alessandra has consistently delivered strong performances both on the big screen and on television. But commercial success has eluded her career for the most part — until the aforementioned “Kita Kita” happened.
Surprisingly, instead of aiming for another blockbuster, she followed that up with the harrowing romantic drama “12,” which would be best remembered for marking her screenwriting debut.
What gives?
“Inaayos ko yung filmography ko,” she confessed.
Alessandra clarifies that while she is happy with being able to pursue other endeavours apart from acting such as scriptwriting and songwriting, she still doesn’t see herself at that stage where she can make a lucrative career out of these passion projects, yet.
“Ako talaga, pa-jack of all trades, di ba? Parang gusto ko lang talagang subukan lahat. I’m not a writer. Nahihiya ako, nahihiya akong sabihin. Nakapagsulat lang ako. Pero batuhan mo ako ng concept ngayon, like ‘Alex, make me a dinosaur movie.’ ‘Ha? Teka, wait lang, hindi ako writer.’”
“Ganoon siya. Kaya ko lang gawin yung feel kong gawin. Pero yung kokontratahin mo ako to do something, wala pa ako dun.”
Nevertheless, Alex is pleased with how her career has flourished, and acknowledges that she is probably reaping success for the years she has put into the industry.
“I am proud na nagagawa ko yung gusto kong gawin, na nagma-materialize yung mga pangarap ko. Hindi naman talaga siya pangarap. Minsan lang talaga, pag pure yung intention mo, pag wala siya talagang halong anything, ibibigay siya talaga sa iyo. Yung magugulat ka, ‘totoo ba?’”
“Pero siguro eto na yung time. Twenty years of hard work, fixing your filmography, integrity,” she said.
